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Fearless Confessions: A Writer's Guide to Memoir

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Sue William Silverman has accomplished the rare feat of offering writers a craft book that won't simply get thumbed through and abandoned. Avoiding the usual rehash of basics, Silverman concentrates on what matters most to a memoirist - How do you identify and effectively contrapose the voice of your younger, less-experienced self with your wiser, reflective voice? How do you devise plot powerful enough to make leaps from mere story to universal meaning? How do you sift through the images sparked by your material to find expressive metaphors? Her provocative theoretical discussions are coupled with practical instruction. Particularly useful are Silverman's exercises, which are not run-of-the-mill prompts but detailed progressions that dig deeply and, even for an experienced writer, yield surprising results.

If you've ever been made to feel your story isn't worth telling or pressured to adapt your reality to the market, in Silverman you will find an intelligent and convincing advocate. No craft book can give you everything needed to embark on a new book, but she goes a long way toward equipping you for the journey. I wish I'd read this book before I wrote my first memoir; I'll welcome it as a companion during my second.

I can attest, first hand, that the writing method contained within these pages works. Sue William Silverman offers a grounded approach to both the micro and macro levels of writing. The book offers practical assistance with common writing issues (using more active words, voice, dialogue, and tense) to more nonfiction-specific concerns (voice of innocence/experience and truth/memory). I teach this book to both my creative writing classes and my literature courses--as a way to approach nonfiction.

Prior to utilizing Sue's method I was having little success with publishing, but within one year after heading her advice within this book I landed eight publications. I will now be following her suggestions in this book to find a home for my full collection of essays. There is no other resource that is as comprehensive and helpful for new and experienced writers as this book. A must have for anyone who is even thinking of telling his or her story.

If you have ever thought about writing your story, but thought:
I can't do that
I don't know how to write
What will my mother say?
I have nothing to say anyway

....
then this book was written for you.

This book is the antidote for all of the voices that demand silence, be they literary critics or family members. Sue Silverman not only guides the reader through the thorny issues of telling the "truth" in memoir, but she also provides real, practical guidelines for writing better prose, as well as innovative ways to market your work. The result is an inspiring, funny, and incredibly insightful book. I particularly loved her writing exercises and the example essays that she chose to illustrate her various points.

Silverman also has first-hand experience in writing about "confessional" subject matter--she's the author of two memoirs, one about growing up in an incestuous family, and one about sex addiction. Her gentle prodding--"Write anyway! Whatever the roadblock. Write anyway!" is backed up by solid information and great advice. Her critique of literary and pop cultural denigration of memoir is sharp and to the point, and among the best I've ever read.

Sue's book is a gift to us all. I'm grateful that she wrote it, and that I had the opportunity to read it--and now I've got to get back to work on my memoir.

Although the subtitle refers to memoir, Sue William Silverman's guide will be helpful for essay writers as well. The author uses her own life experiences to illustrate the elements of memoir, and good writing in general. Each chapter ends with practice exercises and a "for your reading pleasure" short essay that relates directly to the lesson.

In her preface, Silverman tells us that "Fearless Confessions is intended to help ensure that our voices are heard." Her direct, honest voice tells the reader she wrote this because she "struggled through numerous false starts and made many mistakes" before she learned how to turn her raw experience into an artful story. Through clear instruction, exercises, readings and heartfelt encouragement, she has made certain the success of her mission.

Highlighted statements reinforce each chapter's main ideas. For example, in "Plotting Your Life," Silverman introduces the reader to the horizontal plot (what happens to the writer) and the vertical plot (how the writer feels about it). "It's only through writing about events after they happen...that we come to understand what they mean," she says. "All our lives have plots. We find them through writing."

In her chapter on voice, she contrasts the Voice of Innocence and the Voice of Experience, and ends with an essay by Candace L. Greene portraying the voices of three women--her own, her mother's and her grandmother's, describing each moment in the Voice of Innocence, and ending with the Voice of Experience as the writer realizes a truth about their lives. In the chapter on metaphors, Silverman says "Don't expect to know your metaphors before you begin to write. This is what you'll discover as you write."

She addresses the critics who belittle memoir, especially by women, by labeling it "confessional." Many of us have been marginalized, Silverman writes, regardless of gender. "Confessing" our stories exposes the commonality among us. It serves to expand the range of what it means to be human. In "Confessional and (Finally) Proud of It," Silverman tells about her family's reaction to her memoirs about sexual abuse and addiction, and includes quotes from other writers about their experience with family criticism. In the end, she says, "our job is still to tell our stories..." and to "bear witness to honest human experiences and emotions."

The book has three Appendices: an overview of the subgenres of creative nonfiction, three confessional essays on the writing process written especially for readers of this book, and four full-length essays the reader can use to study the craft elements discussed. Finally, Silverman gifts us with an extensive reading list.

Fearless Confessions is a trustworthy, encouraging companion for everyone who chooses to take the first step toward writing about life. I'm sure I'll refer to it again and again, for ideas and courage as I walk the memoir writer's path.

by Linda Wisniewski
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

"A friend suggested this book to me. Boy, I'm glad she did. I was stump on how to get started writing a story I've been wanting to pen for many years. The book is filled with information, but it doesn't feel like a text book. Because the writing is so clear, the information just sinks in. After spending the past four years at college, it's refreshing to pick up a craft book that one can enjoy."

"I heard Sue's voice in my ear as I read this book, and now that I am sitting down in front of my computer, gearing up to write, she is there is the background reminding me to use effective verbs, to fearlessly dig for meaning and to choose metaphors that will add layers to my work. Thanks Sue for this book, a gift to the fearful writer."

Sue William Silverman was my role model for memoir because she wrote about issues usually silenced in our society. Love Sick: One Woman's Journey through Sexual Addiction Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You (Associated Writing Programs Award for Creative Nonfiction) Then, I had the pleasure of meeting her at Vermont College of Fine Arts, post-graduate writer's conference, where she was faculty/advisor. She taught the group metaphor, voice, and technique, and encouraged expression from the writer within each individual. Sue urged us toward being fearless with our confessions. "Fearless Confessions" is an apt title for the "Writer's Guide to Memoir." Despite my notes from the conference, and hand-outs from Sue, I wished I had a "go-to" guide at my fingertips. Sue has made such a guide available in "Fearless Confessions."

The book contains chapters that have writing exercises and inserts with tips. Sue also includes appropriate articles by other authors, which exemplify what Sue is conveying in the body of each chapter. Sue generously offers examples of her own. I was especially moved by her revealing essay "The Pat Boone Fan Club." This is what a memoirist does: reveal life matter that one thinks is individual, yet the emotions are universal. Some confessional memoirs put into words what others are thinking, but are afraid to say aloud. Sue dares us to dig deep and write down, such as with an exercise that asks the reader to "Write a short paragraph about a secret you've never told anyone, except maybe a therapist."

Sue explains the craft of writing, and elements such as "the voice of innocence" and "the voice of experience." She leads us to websites, books, marketing opportunities, and publishing options. (note of disclosure: Sue used my essay "From Process to Product: Using Print-on-Demand to Publish" in Appendix two).

I eagerly awaited "Fearless Confessions" because I wanted to hold Sue Silverman's knowledge and ability in the palm of my hand. Sue packs more in 237 pages than I ever expected. If you want to write a memoir, use Sue's "go-to" guide to write it right.

Sue William Silverman's clever, honest, insightful book answers the question all writers of memoirs want to know--- How do I make my story resonate with others? In the same way she laid herself bare in Love Sick and Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You, William Silverman makes the impossible seem close at hand, not easy but certainly attainable. Should be required reading for anyone who is thinking of attempting non-fiction, and anyone who loves reading it. Hats & Eyeglasses: A Memoir

I've read several "how-to" memoir books and none are as useful as this. Not only does Silverman offer up some great examples of personal essay and short memoir, but she gives you the secrets of how to blend the adult and child voice, how to find the meaning in the plot of your life and how to develop subtext with metaphor and language. She is clearly a gifted teacher who has learned her stuff through experience.

If you've been lucky enough to have had Sue William Silverman as a teacher, you'll know the value of this gem of a book. One of the great practitioners and evangelists of the modern memoir, this is Silverman at her very best -- running alongside your bicycle whether you are an experienced or a novice writer. There is much to learn here; much to treasure. Just don't lend it to a friend. You won't get it back.

I so much enjoyed reading Fearless Confessions. It's immensely useful and absorbing--not only does it instruct those wishing to write memoir in a warm, patient, helpful and reassuring manner, it is in itself an example--it reads like a memoir about writing memoir and is quite playful as it goes about helping prospective memoir writers.

The book allows its readers to identify with the needs, longings and passions of the memoir writer and then adds in helpful exercises, resources and model memoir essays by many fine writers. All in 229 pages! It's not intimidating even as it provides a very thorough background in memoir writing, details ways to increase your skill with the craft and the depth of your writing, as well as publish, market and promote your book.